1 More shooting charges:James Holmes, the man accused of murdering 12 people in July at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., faces 16 new counts of attempted murder, bringing the total number of charges to 166. Judge William Sylvester approved the new counts at a hearing Thursday in state court in Centennial. Holmes faces 24 counts of first-degree murder and more than 100 counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors said the additional charges reflect additional victims.

3 Mayor guilty of theft: A 91-year-old woman has admitted she stole more than $200,000 from the Alabama town where she was mayor for three decades. Prosecutors said River Falls Mayor Mary Ella Hixon pleaded guilty to theft on Thursday after a police investigation revealed that she had illegally transferred $201,610 in city money to other people in the past three years. Hixon resigned and was sentenced to five years in prison, which was suspended because of her age. A judge ordered Hixon to repay the money.

4 Meningitis outbreak: Federal health officials said Thursday they have tracked down 12,000 of the roughly 14,000 people who may have received contaminated steroid shots in the nation's growing meningitis outbreak. Of the 170 people sickened, all but one have a rare fungal form of meningitis after receiving suspect steroid shots for back pain, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

5 Fort Hood shooting: An Army appeals court on Thursday questioned whether a military judge exceeded his authority in ordering the suspect in the deadly 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, to remove his beard or be forcibly shaved. Judges on the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Virginia also considered a claim by Maj. Nidal Hasan's lawyers that the military judge who issued the order should be replaced. The American-born Muslim psychiatrist claims he grew his beard for religious reasons.

6 Circumcision clash: Three rabbis and three Jewish groups asked a federal court in New York on Thursday to block enforcement of a new regulation requiring parental consent for an ancient circumcision ritual that city health experts said can spread infection and has killed two children since 2004. During the ritual, the person performing the circumcision tries to cleanse the wound by sucking blood from the cut and spitting it aside. The saliva puts the infant at increased risk of getting herpes simplex, which can be deadly in newborns.